134 JOURNAL OF THE EOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



choke-cherry, sand-cherry, pear, apple, willow, rose, turnip, rape, cabbage, 

 tomato, potato, Malvastrum, dock, Amaranthus, mustard, shepherd's 

 purse, Antirrhinum, carnation, rhubarb and egg-plant. The eggs are 

 shiny black, small and oval, and are to be found near the tips of the 

 shoots. The aphides are at first of a dark green colour and later assume 

 shades of pink and salmon. As with most aphides the forms hatched 

 from the eggs are viviparous and produce numbers of young. After 

 feeding on the leaves, &c, a large proportion of them acquire wings, and 

 about the beginning of June (in Colorado) desert the peach for some 

 of the other plants mentioned above, returning to the peach in September 

 or October. Larvae of Syrphus flies and lace-wings and ladybirds prey 

 on the aphides, and a small hymenopterous parasite destroys large 

 numbers, while various birds feed upon them. The whole life history 

 is very carefully outlined in the paper. The best results in controlling 

 the pest were obtained by spraying with paraffin emulsion containing 

 5 per cent oil, Scalecide diluted 1 part to 20 parts cold water, cr tobacco 

 decoction made by steeping 1 lb. of leaf tobacco or 2 lb. strong tobacco 

 dust in 4 gallons water, just before the buds burst. It is recommended 

 that all prunings should be burned. — F. J. G. 



Peach, Apricot, and Plum Kernel Oil Manufacture in the 

 United States. By F. Rabak (U.S.A. Dept. Agr., Bur. PI. Ind., 

 Bull. 133, October 1908).— Large quantities cf stoned apricots and peaches 

 and a certain amount of stoned plums are annually sold in the United 

 States. The kernels of all these fruits are almost identical chemically 

 with those of the sweet and bitter almonds, from which the almond oil of 

 commerce is extracted, and as apricot stones from America are already 

 exported abroad, and the extracted oil returned to America as pure almond 

 cil, it is suggested that a native industry might be created, and the 

 American demand for almond oil be supplied from the home orchards. 



M. L. H. 



Peach Die Back {Dep. Agr. N.Z., 16th Report, 1908, p. 112).— This 



disease was formerly attributed to Clasterosporium carpophilum ; but 

 during studies of ' Peach-scab ' it has become apparent that the fungus 

 is identical with Coryneum Bcyerinckii. Spraying with Bordeaux 

 mixture scon after the leaves have fallen is followed with good effects. 

 When infection has been established the spores are developed in large 

 numbers at the first sign of spring growth, and if the spraying is delayed 

 until this period considerable damage through " die back " will be 

 experienced. — M. C. C. 



Peatmosses, Poisoning: in. By Alfred Dachnowski (Bot. Gaz., 

 xlvi., August 1908, pp. 130-143 ; with 6 figures). — The author has 

 carried out some very interesting experiments on the toxic property of 

 bogwater and bogsoil. He alludes to the great importance of the reactions 

 upon habitat of the plants themselves. He collected samples of bogwater 

 from a small "bog island" (apparently a sphagnum and cottongrass 

 swamp with an outer zone of alder, willow and Acer rubrum). 



Mzrchantia gemmae, wheat, Indian corn, and several other plants were 

 then grown in this bogwater after it had been variously treated. In one 



